Another issue from the series of commemorative euro coins dedicated to Slovak fauna and flora, commemorates the black stork.

The black stork is a lesser-known relative of the white stork. As its name suggests, it is predominantly a black bird, but it is also characterised by its bronze lustre, red bill and white belly. It is rarely seen in the wild, as it is very shy and lives hidden in forests. It hides its nest of sticks and branches in the crowns of old trees in areas with plenty of rainfall and watercourses, where it hunts for food. It catches its favourite fish in forest streams and river creeks, but does not despise insects, frogs or newts. It also hunts small rodents and birds in wetlands and wet meadows. The collected food is then brought to its young from up to 10 kilometres away. At the beginning of the 20th century, the black stork was disappearing from Central Europe, but today its numbers are increasing. One of the centres of its range is Slovakia, where it inhabits floodplain, lowland, foothill and mountain forests. It flies to central and west Africa in winter…

The reverse side of the coin, which is the work of academic sculptor Mgr. Marie Šeborová, dominates the flying black stork. It also bears the Slovak and Latin name of the species: BOCIAN ČIERNY – CICONIA NIGRA. The obverse side of the coin presents not only a stork catching a fish, but also a pair of storks building a nest in the crown of a tree. In the relief of the coin you will also find the Slovak national emblem, the inscription SLOVENSKO, the year of issue 2023 and the nominal value of 5 EURO.

The base metal commemorative coin was minted by the Slovak Mint Mincovňa Kremnica and issued by the National Bank of Slovakia.